Nn Police Awarded $118,000 Grant

City Hopes To Enhance Officers' Presence

Newport News police officers will spend more time on the streets and less time in the office, thanks to a U.S. Department of Justice grant that was announced Thursday.

The city was awarded the $118,000 grant through the department's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services as part of the Clinton administration's efforts to get more police on patrol.

Newport News police welcomed the grant. The more officers are out of the office, said Patty Mahaffy, Newport News police spokeswoman, "the more they can be a presence in the community ... which is what community policing is all about."

Newport News was among 21 communities nationwide, and the only one in Virginia, to receive a share of the $150 million through the program, spokeswoman Lisa Cain said.

The grant doesn't mean Newport News will be hiring more police officers, Mahaffy said. Rather, the grant specifies that the funds must be used to purchase equipment and hire civilian employees, both of which will provide officers with more time to spend on the streets.

The police department initially applied for a $424,600 grant, Mahaffy said. The $118,000 award will be used to hire two civilian staff assistants and purchase computer communications technology.

The grant will cover 75 percent of the costs to purchase the technology and to hire staff assistants, the justice department said. The city is expected to provide a 25 percent local match.

Nationwide, the funds should put the equivalent of 4,300 full-time officers on the streets, the department said.